Sunshine and Raindrops
by Michaela100
Summary: You've heard of Rose's side of VA but have you heard Lissa's? It's time to find out just what Lissa was thinking through VA. Not only that but I'm giving you a taste of Eric's view in the novella"Sunshine"you'll find all that in more.Read.Review.Favorite.
1. Vampire Academy LPOV Chapter 1

**Hey everyone!**

**This is Richelle's VA book but I chose to write it in Lissa's point of view instead. Anyways I hope you like it as much as I do.**

**Don't forget to REVIEW it and tell me what your thoughts were! Thanks guys :)**

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. Richelle Mead does.

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Chapter One.

LPOV

Andre. My older brother lay motionless on the concrete. I already new he was dead; a dream didn't have to tell me that. His face was blank, oh how I wish I could see his eyes again. The pale jade eyes that matched mine were gone. A wrack of pain and loss shot through me. I wasn't able to hold back my tears as I looked around to see if the others had survived the crash. They hadn't. My mother and father were surrounded by blood, they to were not moving. Then my eyes rested on Rose, my best friend, was lying completely still with cuts and gashes all over her body. Surely they all couldn't be dead? I guess it was stupid of me to think they'd just wake up and tell me it was all a joke. As I surveyed my own body a startled cry rose up in my throat. I too was covered in cuts and gashes that oozed blood. Although- I couldn't feel the pain, only the intense feeling of loss and sadness. Tears clouded my eyes as I shook Andre violently, hoping I'd get some response out of him. But no, he didn't move. I slapped him this time, trying to force some sort of reaction. I got none. A feeling of despair clouded my mind as I crawled over to Rose. Her eyes were staring up at the sky but there was no sign of life behind them. I reached out to touch her but before I could even lay a hand on her lifeless body- I woke up.

Shaking violently, I looked up at Rose who was hovering over me, looking concerned. It took all of my strength to speak. "Andre," I moaned. "Oh god." Rose helped me to sit up and I realised my sheet and pillow were drenched with sweat.

"It's okay Liss. You aren't there anymore." Rose murmured soothingly. My body rocked violently and Rose wrapped her arms around me, trying to calm me down. "It's okay," she said gently. "Everything's okay."

"I had that dream," I whispered. Although I'm sure Rose already knew since I'd been screaming in my sleep.

"Yeah. I know." She said and let out a heavy sigh. Several minutes passed and we said nothing. Slowly the shaking stopped and I began to breath normally again. Rose's presence seemed to do that. She shifted to the nightstand and turned lamp on. The dim light caused our housemates cat Oscar to appear. He regarded Rose with a hiss before he came to sit beside me. I chuckled, cats didn't like dhampir's for some reason and Oscar didn't like Rose in particular. He purred at my touch. His fur felt soft to my trembling fingers. And I calmed down even more at his presence.

"When did we last do a feeding?" Rose asked suddenly. "It's been like… over two day, hasn't it? Three? Why didn't you say anything?" I shrugged. I didn't want to feed off of my best friend, it didn't seem right and I'd seen how it affected her.

"You were busy. I didn't want to…"

"Screw that," she interrupted. I felt her arm move as she shifted herself towards me, flipping her hair over her neck. "Come on. Let's do this."

"Rose…" I started.

"Come on. It'll make you feel better." Oscar had already read my hungry expression and immediately jumped off the bed. My hidden fangs became visible once I bared them against her skin. The precious red rubies flowed into my mouth and I felt nothing but pure ecstatic bliss. I heard Rose cry out once I bit down harder. I didn't bother to think about how Rose felt when I drank from her: I already knew when she replaced her cries with soft moans she didn't care to keep in. When I felt no thirst for more I pulled back, wiping a hand across my chapped lips.

"You okay?" I asked.

"I… yeah." She laid back. Pleasure and longing replaced by dizziness. I was afraid to admit I'd taken more blood then necessary. Concerned, I stood up.

"I'm getting you something to eat." I left before she could protest. Downstairs our housemate- Jeremy- whom I compelled for a place for me and Rose to live, greeted me. Relief replaced his worried expression once he saw me.

"Hey Lissa. What are you doing up so early? Rose said you two would be asleep for awhile." I sighed.

"I woke up. I wasn't feeling very well- I had a bad dream." I said, recalling Andre's blank face.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" He asked. I shook my head.

"Not particularly."

"Oh, well… okay that's fine."

"Do you have anything to eat? Rose is hungry, that's all."

"Sure, there's heaps of food in the cabinet."

"Okay, thanks." I hastily made my way over to the cabinets and couldn't help but notice he was studying calculus. I smiled at the thought of him trying to do the hardest math, he wasn't particularly bright you could say. Heavy footsteps pounded down the stairs and I turned to see Rose rushing down, her breathing heavy.

"You shouldn't be up." I chastised.

"We have to go. Now." She eyed me seriously, and then I understood the hidden meaning.

"Are you… really? You sure?"

"What's wrong?" Jeremy asked, confused. Rose's head turned towards me.

"Liss, get his car keys."

He looked from her to me "What are you-" Fear rushed through me and before he could finish I had him locked in my gaze. His face- his mind- went blank. I could feel it. I had him. I smiled proudly as I said my command.

"We need to borrow your car," I said gently and as calmly as I could. "Where are your keys?" He smiled back as he reached into his pocket and handed me the keys.

"Thank you." I said. "And where is it parked?"

"Down the street," he said dreamily. "At the corner. By brown."

"Thank you." I repeated whilst heading closer to the front door. "As soon as we leave, I want you to go back to studying. Forget you ever saw us here tonight." He nodded.

"Come on." Rose said. "We've got to move." When we were outside we headed to the corner like he said. I followed behind Rose but couldn't help notice Rose's uneasy steps. She was still dizzy from the blood loss. I was scared to stop her at this point.

"Rose… what are we going to do if they catch us?" I whispered.

"They won't," she said, determined. "I won't let them."

"But if they've found us…" I trailed off.

"They found us before. They didn't catch us then. We'll drive over to the train station and go to L.A. They'll lose our trail." With her firm words we stopped talking and focused on getting the hell outta here. I was afraid the plan wouldn't work, mostly because guardians were chasing us. Who were trained and ready for anything. We'd gotten away plenty of times before but I was afraid they would be able to stop us this time. I was startled by a sudden shuffling noise.

"Do you here that?" I asked referring to the loud footsteps behind us.

"We've got to run for it," Rose said, taking my arm.

"But you can't-" I tried to protest.

"_Run_." With that I kept running as Jeremy's green Honda came into view. Only a few more steps and we'd of made it but a tall man stepped abruptly in our path. We came to a screeching halt and I nearly ran into the back of Rose. A man, tall, dark and dangerous took a step towards us. Rose in guardian mode pulled me behind her as more guardians came into view.

"Leave her alone," she growled. "Don't touch her."

The man stepped forward "I'm not going to-" before the man finished his sentence Rose attacked him. But he was fast- oh so fast. He had her pinned before her foot connected with his chest. He through her a couple of feet and she went flying towards the ground but just as fast as he'd thrown her, he caught her before her head hit the ground. He then pulled her to her feet. Rose's hair was out of place making the bite mark visible. He and I both noticed but I think he thought more of it. Realizing Rose was going in for another attack; I reached out and caught her hand, pulling her close.

"Rose," I said quietly. "Don't." She was about to protest but I looked at her levelly in the eye, to show that I meant business. "Enough." I whispered so quietly that I didn't even know if she'd heard, a trickle of compulsion leaked into the order. Understanding crossed her face even though she wanted to prove she could protect me by fighting more. She nodded and returned to my side, no longer in a protective pose. The man noticing Rose's admit to defeat stepped forward once more and swept me a bow.

"My name is Dimitri Belikov," he said. The man was foreign I realized by his slight Russian accent. "I've come to take you back to St. Vladimir's Academy, princess."

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**So...? What did you think? PLease review this chapter and tell me what your thoughts were :) Also, I'd like to thank chantie15 for helping me write this chapter, make sure you check out her story "I will NEVER let you go"  
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	2. Sunshine Ch 8

**Hi everyone!**

**This chapter is in Eric's point of view continuing from the novella "Sunshine" that Richelle mead did. Make sure you REVIEW this chapter and the last chapter. I'd like to know your thoughts :)**

**Note: Denis is the crazy human feeder that kidnapped Rhea in the caves.**

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. Richelle mead does.

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Chapter Eight- Sunshine.**

**EPOV**

I found comfort in our return aboard the cruise. I wanted to forget all about crazy Denis and his obsession with Rhea. Most of all I wanted to forget about being his murderer. I'd been trying to get the pictures of his face- just before he died- out of my head. But they kept on taunting me. It was like I was being punished by Denis's ghost for killing him and he wouldn't rest until I'd paid for what I'd done to him.

Rhea hadn't calmed down yet- she was sitting next to me, wide-eyed and shaky. I put my arm around her and murmured everything was going to be all right, in her ear. The guardians approached us shortly after we boarded the ship and we were both shocked to see how many approached us. There were a dozen. A dozen guardians chastised us on the whereabouts of Denis. I still didn't understand why the guardians cared so much about a psycho feeder- it's not like he could escape the island or anything. Better think he ran off and past out somewhere then to care that much to go after him. Shouldn't they be asking where Rhea went off to when everyone thought she was kidnapped? And what about me? Did anyone care that I'd gone missing to? I always figured people would be concerned about my whereabouts since I was the last line in the Dragomir's air Lome. All eyes were on my arm around Rhea, the guardians appeared slightly confused but said nothing as they walked away. Rhea stood up briskly and started walking away.

"Rhea. Where are you going?" I asked. She turned around and gave me a look that said- isn't it obvious?

"Stephen is here. I have to talk to him. You should do the same with Emma." Understanding came to me and a feel of unease took hold of my emotions. Stephen was Rhea's fiancé- well, ex fiancé now. Rhea and I had fallen in love over the break but we were both already involved with other people. Emma was my more or less girlfriend and don't get me wrong- she was fun to be with but she didn't get me the way Rhea did. I didn't love Emma but I loved Rhea. So now it was time for us to break off our other relationships so we could be together.

"I don't want to see her." I protested. I wanted to forget about that right now and just hold her in my arms. We could solve all of our problems later- after the cruise.

"I think you should go find her, Eric. I don't want his to be a thoughtless break up. You need to explain to her why you can't be with her- it's the right thing to do." She explained. I nodded.

"Until then, I'll see you." She said and then walked away. I saw her approach Stephen on the other side of the room and he wrapped an arm around her, sending me an evil look. Rhea and I only met two weeks ago, although we'd been at the academy for years. I'd just never taken an interest in her until now. We couldn't make our relationship official, as we still hadn't gotten around to breaking up with our other spouses, which wasn't something I was looking forward to. Emma had been avoiding me since she'd seen Rhea and I kissing the other day. I didn't blame her. Over the weeks everyone's been letting lose, lots of relationships had ended because of all the cheating going on. No one would think much of his or her flings but a royal Dragomir getting with a non- royal was a big deal.

Everyone had gone into a packing frenzy, as we would reach the royal court in less than eight hours. I'd already packed ages ago since I couldn't stop worrying about what the queen would think of my newfound love. Packing gave me a distraction to the dreaded meeting I would soon be in. To my surprise I ran into Emma once we'd been told our arrival would be in five hours.

"Hey." I said gruffly. I couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to get the hell away from here and back to Rhea but I'd promised her I would break things off with Emma. I had to make this end on a positive note. "I've been looking for you." I bit my lip, waiting for her response.

"I know. I just wanted some time to myself. After all, it's a pretty big thing when you catch your boyfriend kissing another girl." I couldn't help but notice the way Emma's hair shone under this lighting and how her presence made me feel. Emma was certainly beautiful but she was too pushy about marriage rather then the actual relationship. She was only with me for boosting her social status but Rhea, no. She wanted me not for my name but my personality. Either way I had to end it with Emma, because it was the right thing to do. I always hated the drama after a break up; none of my ex's took it well being rejected by Eric Dragomir. I decided to lighten the mood by talking about the rumours circling the ship.

"Everyone's talking about how Denis kidnapped Rhea. They're keeping the feeders back on the island in lockdown in case anyone pulls a stunt like Denis." As soon as I mentioned Rhea, Emma stiffed and her eyes narrowed. Crap, I thought. It probably hadn't been a good idea to mention Rhea at this point in time.

"Funny. Everyone seems to be talking more about YOU and Rhea." Her lips turned into a thin line and I unconsciously stepped back.

"Oh. I see." I said, sitting down on the nearest seat.

"Oh. I see?" she said in a sarcastic tone. "Is that all you've got to say to me? You cheated on me with… a non-royal! That's insulting!" She yelled and a couple of people turned to look at the argument that was breaking out. She looked me in the eye levelly. "I should have known you'd be the one to cheat- that's typical from a Dragomir, you can't trust them. And I thought Stephen Badica was pathetic but you're just as bad as him!" she said the name "Dragomir" with intense displeasure.

"It wasn't my fault, I swear! Rhea just… she just… gets me. Their's no pressure when I'm with her." I explained in a hurry. This only seemed to make her furry grow.

"So you feel pressured when you're with me? Ha! You're just a poor little Dragomir all by himself with nobody to turn to except a pathetic non-royal." She spat with venom. I clenched my teeth.

"Pathetic, huh?" I said through gritted teeth. She nodded with a smug look on her face.

"Well, then." My eyes were burning with fury. "I guess you don't need me to tell you it's over. Not that it was ever going to work between us anyway, you're to much of a bitch." She scoffed at my comment.

"I don't even think you wanted our relationship to work. Besides," she shrugged, "You're a crappy kisser. It's not like I'm loosing anything." I rolled my eyes. If she thought the kissing was bad then she should regard her own kissing, she was the one that slobbered.

"Whatever; you know that's not true. You're just hurt because I cheated on you and _you're_ the one who's pathetic. _You're_ the one who's a crappy kisser and _you're_ the one who's all alone- not me." I argued.

"Well," she huffed. "You think you've got it all figured out, don't you? Let me tell you something, something so high class that you won't know what hit you." I raised an eyebrow questioningly and she lowered her voice when she spoke her next words. "Everyone knows the Dragomir line ends with you. So I hope you have fun with your little nobody because she'll drag you down. Down in the dust." I was about to speak but she turned around and started walking away. "Have fun building the Dragomir line, loser." She called out, and there was laughter in her voice. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I was shaking with fury, how _dare_ she talk to me like that. I was trying to be nice but she hated me, hated me with an angry vengeance. I doubted I'd be seeing her again. Running a shaky hand through my hair, I decided to walk it off and go to the deck.

Rhea eventually found me out on the deck and put her hand on mine. I hadn't seen her for four hours since she'd gone to break things off with Stephen. I turned to look into her beautiful hazel eyes. They were shining with sorrow and loss.

"Hey," I breathed.

"Hey." She smiled sadly.

"How'd it go?" I asked hesitantly. She was silent for a few moments and then lifted her left hand. I looked at her confused.

"I gave back the ring." She said.

"Oh." I said, frowning.

"He didn't take it to well. He swore a lot. But I think he knew it was only a matter of time before our relationship ended." She said, sighing. "Anyway," she said, "How'd it go with you and Emma?" I grimaced.

"She said some pretty nasty stuff about you and me. But it doesn't matter, she wasn't right for me. But…" I said, turning so we were facing each other, "… you are." She smiled softly and I wrapped my arms around her waist. I'd missed the feel of her lips against mine and without hesitating I bought our lips together. Whenever I kissed girls I thought nothing of it but kissing Rhea whom I loved and felt deeply for was amazing. The kiss was slow at first but it soon became eager and desperate, each of us wanting more but unable to do too much in case somebody saw. My hands slid up her waist and played along the edges of her blue silk top. Her hand caught mine in an instant and she pulled away from the kiss, breathing heavily.

"Watch it," she growled, "don't you remember where we are? Somebody we'll see us." She gestured to the group of moroi girls a few metres away from us. I grinned widely.

"Then let them see. It doesn't matter to me anymore. But you do." I lowered my head, wanting to feel her touch again. She tilted her head up, coming closer. Our lips were only an inch apart when she said.

"Once everything's been sorted out- then we can. You'll have to wait Dragomir." I opened my eyes and saw her smiling smugly. I chuckled and pulled away, grabbing her hand. We looked out onto the ocean near the horizon. The sun was about to rise, indicating that we were almost there. Everything turned quiet after the groups of moroi around us went inside. We didn't speak as the suns rays rested on us as the sun began to rise. How I wish I could bask in the suns glory. But it wasn't possible since after awhile the sun grew uncomfortable. Vampires weren't meant to be awake in the daytime. I watched Rhea curiously as she watched the sun with a look of complete ease. I was amazed about what beauty I saw. To others she'd look pretty plain for a moroi but to me she was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. Awkward yet beautiful.

Her golden hair looked like sunshine again. I knew I'd enjoy that sight for some time to come. Every minute I was with her my love for her grew.

"What are you thinking?" I asked her before the words fully formed in my head.

"Hmm?" she said as if I had just snapped her out of a deep train of thought.

"You know, I've noticed you tend to loose track of your surroundings when you're thinking deeply about something." I said.

"You don't do the same?" she asked, smiling.

"Sometimes." I admitted. She shrugged.

"I don't know, I'm just thinking about the feeders lockdown." She answered.

"Are you hungry?" I asked.

"No it's just… I didn't know Denis was so…"

"Psychotic?" I finished. She winced. I immediately apologised.

"No, no," she interrupted. "He was being absurd. I guess I better put it all behind me." She sighed.

"Hey," I said softly, making sure she was looking at me directly. "Don't ever think you can't talk to me about this. I'm here now and if you feel like you need to get this off your chest then let's talk. I know what it's like to lose someone close to you. And I know enough that it's better to talk about it."

"I know." She said and embraced me with a hug. "I just haven't gotten over it yet."

"No one expects you to of." I reassured her.

"I guess we better go inside now. The sun's beginning to irritate me." She frowned as if she didn't want it to be so. I let her pull me away from the deck and into the lobby where we found Stephen entertaining a bunch of moroi. Rhea stopped to watch and I did to.

"Now. I'm going to finish this in one gulp. Who dares to think I won't?" No one spoke. Of course I knew they all secretly doubted he really could but didn't think to embarrass a fool like him. He was, after all, a royal fool. As everyone suspected he didn't manage to down it in one gulp and the crowd immediately broke into hushed whispers.

"I'm tired." Rhea mumbled into my shirt.

"We can go to my room?" I suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Your side of the ship is quieter then mine. I could do with some quiet." I grabbed her hand.

"We'd better get you to bed." I said.

"Stephens always hoping to please, isn't he?" She frowned.

"He's an idiot, don't worry about him."

"Well, he's a free man now that I no longer have a ring on my finger."

"But you're no longer free…" I winked. "Well, unless you want to be…" she looked at me then and smiled.

"Is that your version of asking me out?" she chuckled.

"I think it is." I smiled back. My room wasn't that far from the lobby and as soon as we got inside we collapsed on the bed and Rhea entangled herself within the covers. I hovered over her, inhaling her scent. I knew from that moment I'd follow her anywhere because I was hers forever. I touched her cheek. It was so soft- smooth as a baby's. I placed a kiss on her forehead. She reacted then and before I knew it my shirt was off and she was trailing hungry kisses down my chest. Wow- she sure knew how to play act. I actually thought she was tired, how stupid, I chuckled. She yanked her shirt off and brought her arms around my neck as she kissed me passionately. She fumbled with my jeans zipper and I pulled her hands back.

"I thought you were tired?" I smirked.

"_Was_, being the key word." She grinned. "I thought you were meant to be tucking me in?" she teased.

"_Was_, being the key word." I quoted. She laughed outright and my attraction for her grew. Her laugh was beautiful. It was like bells chiming.

"So what happens now?" she asked, being serious.

"With what?" I asked. Not admitting I already knew what she meant.

"Us? You and me. What are we going to do?"

"Well, we'll make it official that we're going out. People will be concerned at first but they'll get used to it. The queen won't be to happy." I frowned. "But one things certain; I want to be with you- and not just for a couple of months, I want to _really_ be with you, Rhea. I've never felt this way about anyone before and I think I already kinda love you." I blushed a deep red.

"Funny. I could say the same thing about you." She smiled, pecking me on the lips. I smiled back and pulled her closer. "I can't believe I was charmed by a Dragomir. What have I gotten myself into?" she laughed.

"Something amazing," I laid a kiss on her left eye (Which was closed). "Something dangerous." I kissed her right eye (Which was also closed). "Something beautiful." I kissed her on the lips.

"And we're already going to do this." She said breathlessly. I stopped kissing her for a moment and looked at her.

"I won't pressure you if you're not ready. We don't have to do this if you don't want to, I'm okay with it."

"Liar" she mocked.

"Well I was trying to be sincere." I laughed. "Do you still want to sleep?"

"Well I can't now." She humphed.

"Whys that?" I said and she bit her lip.

"We'll be at the royal court in half an hour, I'm to on edge to sleep."

"Mmm," I said shifting off of her. "That'll be '_fun_'."

"You don't seem to happy about going there. Whys that?"

"It's sort of like my own prison." I explained.

"What? It's your birthright to be there." I smiled at her quip. If only she knew what now lay ahead of us. From this moment on we'd always be in the spotlight, until our very last breath. She regarded me with a curious look as I laughed without humour.

"You obviously haven't met the queen."

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**So...? Did you like it? Tell me what your thoughts and reactions were when you read this chapter by REVIEWING! Also a special thanks to Chantie15 who helped edit and expand this chapter. Please check out her story "I will NEVER le you go." by going to her profile. Thanks guys :)**


	3. Sunshine Ch 9

**Hey everyone,**

**So this is chapter 9 in the book "Sunshine" and it's Eric's point of view again.**

**I made it extra long for you- i hope you enjoy it and don't forget to REVIEW.**

Disclaimer: I do not own the book "Sunshine" nor any of it's content.

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Chapter Nine.

EPOV

Although I had every reason to dislike the royal court, it felt good to be home. I relaxed slightly as we entered through the front gates and made our way into the grand hall. Rhea was by my side, looking calm and relieved. She too, was glad to be back. I'm pretty sure she was relieved to be surrounded by people again. The weekend away still played in her mind and she still couldn't believe she had witnessed Denis's death. A moroi servant carried our bags behind us as we walked at a leisurely pace. I was among the first to be greeted by Nathan Ivashkov who was one of the many royal moroi whom I was friends with.

"Eric," he greeted me, extending a hand. I shook it firmly and nodded formally. His eyes flickered over to Rhea who had gone silent. "Well," Eric began, his eyes assessing Rhea. "Looks like a keeper. Where'd you find this one?" A half smile played on my lips and I turned to face Rhea.

"Nathan, this is Rhea." Rhea looked nervous and I noticed she was shaking slightly but she managed a small smile and a stiff nod. Nathan took his eyes off of her and looked over at me, an eyebrow raised.

"Oh. What happened to Emma?"

"Things happened." I shrugged. Nathan assessed my expression and decided not to push further.

"Maybe I should have attended St. Vladimir's so I could have been apart of the graduation celebration. Shame Aunt Tatiana had more appreciation for the school I attended on the coast. Might have been fun to see what St. Vladimir's had to offer." I smiled bitterly.

"Trust me, you didn't miss out on anything. Although- it would have been fun to have two troublemakers on campus. Everyone else was boring." Nathan chuckled.

"If you say so," he shrugged. "Anyway, I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about later. For now go and unpack your things. There's a dinner later on."

"Okay. I'll see you later." I turned to walk away but Eric stopped me.

"Before I forget… Aunt Tatiana wishes to speak with you around noon. She sais it's something to do with the Dragomir line."

"Of course she does," I sighed heavily, running a hand through my blond locks in frustration.

"No pressure, bro. See you." He walked away leaving Rhea and me alone in the middle of the hall. I turned to face Rhea and she gave me a small smile.

"So, you and Nathan huh? You two seem like close friends." She noted. My smile was real this time.

"Yeah, he's a good mate. He was there when, well-you know." I frowned; Rhea came closer and looked at me with concern. She decided to change the subject.

"Is there any other friends I should know about? Any other 'Troublemakers'?" she joked. I grinned.

"Wait until you see me and Victor together. You'll be wishing we never met." I joked and she grinned back.

"Nothing could make me wish that." I stepped closer to her and bent my head down, lowering my voice.

"Good. Because I plan on staying with you for a very long time." I could feel her breathing quicken at our closeness and knew she was struggling not to reach up and kiss me. After ten seconds she stepped back and gained control of herself.

"So," she said, clearly flustered. "Why am I lucky to never have met the queen." I immediately frowned at the change of topic.

"She's always chastising me about my royal line. Apparently they've given me a time limit to when I have to start rebuilding it." Rhea's eyes widened in shock.

"Are you s-serious?" she stuttered. I nodded. "But that's not fair! Something like that can't be rushed." She protested.

"Tell her that. She won't listen and nothing will change the queen's mind. I have a job to do Rhea- my people need me. It's been to long since the Dragomir's have been on the council to make decisions for our world. I can't do it unless I have family to represent my choice." Rhea crossed her arms.

"They'll just have to wait longer." I sighed.

"We'll see. It's nothing to worry about right this minute; we need to check out the royal court first. Isn't it your first time here?"

"Yes. But I can check it out on my own. I didn't have any problems checking out the island."

"You mean until that psycho feeder kidnapped you." She flinched at my words and I immediately apologised.

"It's fine." She said icily. "It's in the past, I need to get over it."

"Look, I'll go to my room and unpack- then we'll meet back here and look around the royal court. I don't want you left alone." I looked at her levelly and she sighed reluctantly.

"Fine. I'll see you in half an hour." Before I could get out a word she turned around and started walking away and I felt a pang of sadness.

"Wait," I said and she turned around to face me. "You can put your stuff in my room." She sighed and nodded and then together we walked to my room. A hint of cool air hit me when I opened the door with the keys I'd acquired when we'd first arrived. Rhea and I didn't have much time together as I would be heading off to meet with Tatiana soon. The servant dropped our bags in the corner and stood there awkwardly for a moment.

"Don't worry, she won't be sharing my room. We didn't have time to get her a room stationed." I could see the servant was clearly flustered at being caught questioning why Rhea was here.

"I don't see the point in stationing me with a room at all." Rhea commented. I turned to face her, an eyebrow raised.

"Really? Why?"

"Well, I'll be here mostly. You know, for late night getaways." Her lips played in a half smile and my eyes lit up in understanding.

"Hmm, you have a point there." I said, moving forward and pressing a light kiss on her lips. It'd only been a few hours since our last kiss and every minute our bodies weren't in contact it felt strangely awkward, like our bodies needed that touch. Rhea cleared her throat and looked over at the servant.

"Um, thanks. You can go now." I said. The servant bit his lip and shuffled from foot to foot.

"I think he wants a tip." Rhea said, pulling away from me to walk over to her bag. She searched through the pockets and pulled out a five-dollar bill.

"Here," she said, holding out the money. "Take it." The servant smiled at her and hesitantly took the money, nodded and then left the room.

"So, how long do we have before you need to meet with the Queen?" She asked once the door was closed. I took out my phone and checked the screen. 9:57am.

"Two hours." I grunted.

"Well we don't have long then. Go freshen up and then we'll go eat." I sighed and walked over to her, leaning down. She put a finger on my lips to stop our lips from meeting.

"You're on a time limit remember?" she said, pulling her finger away. I tried to sneak another kiss but she dogged it. "Time limit." She warned. I pouted.

"Don't remind me." I frowned.

"Go on," she motioned a finger towards the bathroom, " Be quick. I'm starving." I walked glumly into the bathroom and turned the tap on. The last thing I wanted to do was to go see Tatiana. No doubt she'd chastise me about breaking up with Emma. But the big question was, would she accept Rhea as my wife?

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Ready?" I asked and Rhea nodded.

"Ready." I placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I'm sorry about earlier." I said, wrapping my arms around her waist.

"Don't worry about it. It's fine." I smiled.

"Good. So what do you feel like eating?" Her expression turned thoughtful.

"Anything will do, I guess. Where can we get half decent food here?" She asked.

"We can go to my favourite restaurant. They have the best pizza." Rhea chuckled.

"Okay. Let's go." And we did. As soon as we entered a waitress- who looked extremely familiar- greeted us. And then my eyes widened, of all people, Maria- the waitress- was one of my ex's and she did not look happy to see me and Rhea standing before her. When she recognised me her expression was mixed. I saw fear, shock, resentment and then hate. I could name them all but I handled the situation properly with a small nod and smile.

"Table for two- private seating." I said. I had doubts she's give me any privacy but her jealousy was the least of my problems right now. She turned around stiffly and led us to our seats.

"Table for two, sir." She pulled out our seats, though I was sure she wanted to pull Rhea's seat right from under her. "I'm Maria and I'll be your waitress. What would you like to drink?" I looked over at Rhea who was already had the menu unfolded and was scanning down the lists of food and drink.

"Coke," she said and smiled.

"Water for me," I said, deciding to stick with something less alcoholic since alcohol was all I drunk on the cruise. I couldn't see Tatiana drunk that's for sure.

"Would you like to order now, or?" Maria asked impatiently.

"Yes. I'll have the spaghetti, what about you?" Rhea looked at me expectantly.

"Same here," Marias wrote it down on her note pad but I knew for sure that she wanted to "accidently" get our orders mixed up so we wouldn't have a normal visit here. As soon as Maria was out of sight I turned to Rhea who was looking at me with a sheepish grin. Her solid hazel eyes turned a greenish honey colour.

"I like the colour today." I blurted. She looked confused.

"What colour?"

"Your eye colour to be exact. They change colours sometimes, I've noticed."

"What's the colour today?"

"Honey with shades of green." I told her.

"Oh, I get that a lot."

"I can tell." I smirked.

"So what was her problem?" Rhea directed her question to Maria who came back with our drinks and didn't bother to make eye contact with me. I answered Rhea's question when she left.

"You can tell, huh?"

"What is she one of your many pissed off ex's?"

"Yeah, well. She was too clingy anyway. Relationships come and go, she just can't accept that." Her expression turned shocked and she leaned back as if I'd just stung her.

"How long do you plan to stay with me?" she barely whispered. I put my hand on hers and looked into her eyes.

"A very long time," I assured her.

"I wonder how long that'll be."

"Pretty long," I decided or maybe I was trying to convince myself that's how long we would last. Heck, I didn't know, I usually waited until I found out the disadvantages of the women I was with.

"So, what was wrong with you and her- apart from her being to clingy?"

"Jealousy can get the best of anyone." I said simply.

"Ah, I see. So you're a heartbreaker around here."

"Well, I-"

"Eric Dragomir?" Interrupted a voice I would recognize anywhere.

"Victor Dashkov?" I stood to face him. He looked sharp as ever and young considering he was part of the court royals. He was my closest friend. I trusted him with almost anything. We exchanged hugs and gave happy smiles and then I remembered Rhea was with me.

"Victor, this is Rhea. My-" he held up his hand.

"No need to explain." He shrugged. "I knew you and Emma wouldn't last."

"Everyone knew that." I shrugged. Victor took a moment to scan Rhea who was staying silent.

"I think you've got yourself a keeper, she's a pretty girl."

"I know. Would you like to join us?" I pulled out the extra seat just in case.

"Sure, I was coming to talk to you anyway." Victor sat down, his face calm and serious.

"You know Tatiana has been busting out about the whole Dragomir thing?"

"Yeah, I know. Of course she'd confront me as soon as I've graduated." Victor nodded his head in agreement.

"I've managed to plea against her to try and convince her that it's too risky for you now. She didn't listen of course but she wants to hear from you now."

"What does she expect me to do?"

"Come back and take your seat on the council. Have another Dragomir represent you- the impossible I presume." He shrugged. I groaned.

"Call it what you want Eric but I'm actually starting to see her point of view." My fists slammed down on the table in defeat.

"Oh no, she's brainwashed you to Victor?"

"She didn't and once you've-" Maria returned with our food. This was confidential, Victor knew as well as I did that news around here spread like wildfire. I couldn't tell if he trusted Rhea with this information but she listened intently. Even while slurping her spaghetti. I didn't even bother to eat mine.

"Once you've listened to what she has to say and the evidence she has, you'd scarcely consider it." He finished once Maria was out of sight again.

"Well I doubt I could consider anything right now. I just lost my family Victor… and all these troublesome weeks- have been agonizing. So it she were me, she'd realize that I need some space." Victor rose from his chair.

"Everybody has their moments Eric, but soon they'd come to realize it's just an opportunity for something more. One door closes, another one opens." He quoted and then was gone.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"I thought you were Romanian?" I asked Rhea, my arm around her once we were out of the restaurant. She looked at me.

"Half my family is. You know that, why would you ask?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

"You ate Italian you know."

"There were no Romanian dishes to try." She shrugged.

"Hmm, maybe I'll talk to them about including foreign dishes."

"Victor has a point you know. About the one door closes another on opens. It's true we all have opportunities we need to take."

"I'm still in recovery. No one can rush that."

"Yes. But your people need you._ Now_."

"Yeah, well- they can wait! I've got problems of my own and shouldn't have to deal with the entire moroi worlds problems!" I yelled and she winced. I was yelling at her and it scared me more. "I've got to go." I left. Who knew what else I'd say if I stayed any longer and god only knew that I didn't want to take too much anger out on Rhea. She looked confused as a walked away but she had an understanding fix to her expression. The court was on the other side of the buildings, so I had a long walk. It gave me time to come up with a promising plea, one that would hopefully buy me some time and end her tantrums about me starting to re-build the Dragomir line. I made my way to the court chamber and was met by Priscilla Voda, a long-time friend of the Queen.

"Tatiana and I were starting to think you'd never show." She exhaled in relief, almost like she had been holding her breath until I'd finally arrived- not to mention she looked a little blue.

"Believe me, I wasn't planning on it." I huffed.

"The sooner we get started, the sooner you can leave." She said, turning around to open the door. As soon as I entered I saw Tatiana sitting at the other end of the room on one of the long tables. She had on her everyday gown, the royal crown and silver ballet shoes that were scattered with tiny jewels. Next to her were the royal council members- only moroi, of course. Among them I saw Victor and Nathan who sat separately in their own line. I had a feeling I was about to get an earful. As I neared them I bowed formally, the polite way of showing respect for the Queen.

"Rise Eric." She said. I stood up and waited. "It seems we have important things to discuss, things that need to be given attention to immediately." I groaned. Here we go- she wasn't wasting time.

"I don't understand why you couldn't at least have given me a day to settle back in. It's not like a day could've done any harm. Plus I was spending time with Rhea before she leaves, I'm sure you already have heard about her?" Brocken out whispers immediately broke out due to my abruptness in talking to the Queen. She narrowed her eyes slightly but shook it off.

"Indeed I was informed of this Rhea you speak of," she gestured to Victor and Nathan who made a point of not looking at me. "And we cannot waste any more time in the matter concerning your line, Eric. Since it is so rare, you are our top priority at this point in time, your safety and wellbeing is vital." She had a Queenly look which bugged me every time we spoke. Her expression seemed heartless mostly- it was an expression lacking true emotion behind it- she was always guarded, it was truly annoying.

"Alright, tell me what you want." I got down to business. I didn't want to spend any more than fifteen minutes talking to her, every minute was more painful than the last.

"It's nothing we particularly "want" it is, rather what you are "required" to do. It's your duty to bring the Dragomir's back- without them the council is lacking order and fulfilment." Her beady eyes watched my reaction. Little did she know that I already knew about what she was asking, or rather- making me do.

"And what if I don't want to do what you're asking me to?" I said.

"You don't have a choice. It's your birth right to be on this council and so it shall be." I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists.

"Well I'm not ready to do what you ask of me. You've survived without the Dragomir's for this long, why not forever?" I nearly shouted.

"Decisions and equal votes can't be made. When you rebuild your line it'll help take the stress off of the council since there will be a fair vote from that moment on."

"Well, that's not my problem. I'm still enjoying my free time, your majesty. Surely you must understand that loss, grief and hate- take time to get over."

"I understand Eric, but now you are of age, you are required to do things you don't necessarily want to do and that's just the way it is and always will be."

"Nineteen isn't old enough."

"You'll be twenty soon, you'll be a man." I huffed, not wanting to argue any longer.

"I'm sure you've bought me here for another reason. What is your other excuse?" her lips tilted up into a knowing smile.

"We've come to an age decree. We need more forces against the Strigoi. We're losing moroi from left to right."

"And so you've come up with a suicidal plan to help get rid of Strigoi now? Smart." Tatiana let out a frustrated sigh, working hard to keep herself in line for the other witnesses. I felt a guilty pleasure in being the one to push her buttons.

"We are doing what must be done to protect our kind."

"You are putting us at a greater risk and also lessening the dhampir population even I don't think that is fair." I beckoned for one of the moroi on the council to agree with me but they all stayed eerily silent. They were all loyal to their queen, so typical.

"You're rushing into it because you care more for your own people's lives. What about all the dhampir's lives you'll be taking in the process of keeping more of us safe. They aren't ready and you know it."

"Her majesty's vow was to serve and protect, Lord Dragomir. Am I not right?" A Badica said. I turned my glare on them and scowled. I hated the Badica's, mainly because of Stephen- Rhea's ex.

"By this degree becoming law she is not only serving but protecting our kind- at a cost, yes- but she is only doing her duty." I looked over at Tatiana who was looking not annoyed by Badica's interruption but more amused by my responses and facial expressions.

"I guess you have a point there," I admitted. "However, have you all discussed the age of these young novices you'll be sending out? They have so much to learn before they become a guardian."

"We've decided sixteen would be a proper age and we're prepared to send them out that young since they are already so talented. You're not the only line we want to protect."

"It's not about that; they're too young! They're children! It's like sending babies out to battle. Plus, if we don't have dhampir's we don't have moroi." I growled. Considering whispers broke the crowd.

"Are you saying you wish for us all to be gone? And with that done, Strigoi would rule the vampire world. We would be no more."

"That's not what I'm saying. We should be concerned for our race, yes. But to many strigoi attacks are costing our lives, we need to keep that two vampire races exist."

"Once you have a family of your own, Lord Dragomir you will beg to differ. We need more protection. The end of moroi means the end of dhampir's- they won't mind risking their lives to keep us safe so their race has a chance." Badica finished.

"He does have a point though," Lord Ozera interrupted. "We will become extinct if we sacrifice all those lives by sending them out early; some aren't even ready at eighteen. It would be better if we joined the fight." Shocked gasps broke out and everyone didn't bother to whisper. Everyone was shouting over one another and staring at Lord Ozera in shock. The Ozera's were the line with the most political views and the crystal blue eyes. The Ozera's were planning the birth of their heir. Christian, I believed they would name him if they hopefully had a boy. I sure did wish for the best- they were nice people.

"No," Tatiana stood. "We are not joining the war against the strigoi. That is suicidal in itself. Sixteen is an appropriate age to be guardian material and is very generous of us to be allowing. We could send them out as twelve year olds but we are kindly allowing them at sixteen. That is the degree, that is the law and the law is final."

"Being a guardian takes years of training at school! School is the most important; we don't want unskilled novices protecting us." I shouted.

"True but we could pack the training curriculum more closely; they'd learn the same amount faster."

"That will only put more pressure on them and they'll make mistakes." I argued. "I'm sick of arguing, you already know where my vote stand"

"You do not have a vote yet, Lord Dragomir. Build your line and you will. This meeting is concluded." Titania finished and left the room leaving everyone open-mouthed and shocked.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

The rest of the night I sat in my room, furious at how Titania had played me. Eventually I decided to go to the bar for a long needed drink. It was good that most moroi were now asleep since the sun was up, I however preferred to be basking in the sun's rays- well- awake in them. Once I had stayed there, long enough to make my eyelids droop I left and went back to my room where Rhea was fast asleep. I studied her why she slept, her hair still looked gold, even in the dark. Her name should be "Sunshine" I thought. I placed a kiss on her cheek and her eyes fluttered open.

"I thought you were asleep," I whispered.

"Nearly, I spent hours rooming around the court. It's so big I didn't even get to go to all the places."

"Hey, I thought we were going to do that together- so I could give you company." I said, frowning.

"What else was I supposed to do whilst you were gone? You were in there for hours."

"Mmm."

"So what did Titania say?" I sat up, my anger flared just as fast as it left when I saw Rhea.

"She just lectured me on the whole 're-building the Dragomir line' thing.'' I huffed.

"Did she give you more time, since you're so young?" She sat up to, wrapping her arms around me.

"No, she didn't. She said that I'd be twenty soon and that means I'd suddenly be a man" I said the word 'suddenly' with sarcasm dripping off the end.

"So that's it- you'll have kids soon."

"If it gets everyone off of my back- then yes." Rhea's eyes widened.

"You make it seem like a burden."

"It kind of is. Everyone keeps on hassling me that I need children to have a spot on the council- which is ridiculous in itself. Now that my parents are dead I'm on my own." She tensed.

"A child is a gift, Eric. You'd do anything to protect them and they're trying to protect you."

"I'm just getting tired of it, I'm safe- look at me. As long as I'm at court nothing will happen to me." I buried my face in my hands in frustration.

"The others are all just looking out for you and making sure you make the right decisions in life. You need to trust them." I didn't say anything. What could I say? Rhea's hand touched mine and she pulled my hands back from my face. I looked up at her but couldn't look her in the eye. I was too ashamed that, even at my age, I wasn't ready to fulfil my royal requirement to rebuild the Dragomir line. She kissed the corner of my lips so I had to look at her then. She kissed me again. It was unusual since I was expecting her to only kiss me once. I felt her hands wander along my shirt, paying along the first button. It was baffling as she made the first move, like the other night before the cruise made it back to court. I don't think even Rhea herself could let go now. She shifted so her body was up against mine and she kissed my neck. A tingling of desire escaped welled up inside me which caused certain parts of me to react.

I had her on her back and my body lingering over hers in three seconds flat. My hand trailed up her shirt once more. I was surprised I got her bra off and my shirt off all at once. We were wrapped in each other embrace, neither one planning to let go. Our arms and limbs were all tangled. My lips didn't leave her skin as I trailed kisses to the base of her pants. I unzipped them and the thrill sent an exciting moan through her. I could tell she was experienced already; she didn't have an uneasy look to her features when I looked at her. She was calm but impatient in waiting for me to come back up to her lips to connect and feel that heat again but I took my time just for the anticipation of it.

When both our clothes were off and we were completely naked I came back up to kiss her aggressively. It was pure animal passion each one of us fighting for the dominate role. I was slow at first, not close to the fast she wanted but I made it sweet for her to enjoy. I did intend on a sudden stop because I knew she was only doing this because she felt pity for my dying line and she wanted to make me feel better about it by taking my mind off of things. Her kisses were strong compared to all the other ones we shared. She led the rest of the night.

When we were done we both laid there staring at the ceiling. I ran my fingers through her hair mindlessly. She made silent snores as she slept. I concentrated on her warmth; it was soothing after what we had just done. For the first time since I'd been approached about it; I considered starting to rebuild the Dragomir's.

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**A big thank you to "Chantie15" for taking the time to edit this chapter for me. Please check out her stories, they are amazing.**


	4. Sunshine Ch 10

**Hey everyone,**

**This is another chapter in Eric's point of view and Rhea has some big news for him!**

**Hope you like it, don't forget to REVIEW this chapter****-**** i always love to hear what y'all have to say. :)**

Discalimer: i do not own any of these characters. Richelle Mead does.

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Chapter Ten

EPOV

I woke in a room cast with shadows. It took a few seconds for me to realise where I was. I looked over at Rhea who was still fast asleep, with her arms wrapped around me. As carefully as I could I unwrapped her arms and pulled back the covers. She was a heavy sleeper- so I slipped away easily. I made my way over to the window and pulled back the curtains. It was pitch black outside, so most Moroi would be up now since we run on a nocturnal schedule- which was something that grew quite annoying over time, especially since I loved the sun so much.

I sighed, thinking about all the meetings the court would now hold since the graduated Moroi had returned. We were the new generation and it was time to claim our lines opinions. Tatiana had personally invited me to them all, even though I was the last in my line. Today the court held an important meeting, which I was completely unaware to what it was concerning. I had just enough time to take a shower and wash my hair and as I exited the bathroom dressed and dried I noticed Rhea was still fast asleep. I quietly tiptoed over to the door and it wasn't until I turned the handle that I heard her mumble my name. I turned around to see her sitting up in bed, stretching her muscles and looking at me curiously.

"Where are you going?" she asked, her voice sounding husky from sleep.

"Just a meeting," I said, walking over and sitting next to her on the edge of the bed.

"What meeting?" she asked, confused.

"With the council- I don't know what it's about though." Her eyebrows furrowed.

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"Invitation only I'm afraid." I said with a sigh. She pouted, making puppy dog eyes.

"Okay," she said sadly. "That's fine." I groaned. "I mean, I was going to check out the rest of court anyways." She shrugged.

"I really wish you'd wait so I could go with you."

"Nonsense- I'm not a child, I'm fine on my own." She said stubbornly. I stared at her, slightly annoyed she didn't want to spend time with me going around court.

"Well, I better go." I said shifting, about to get up. Rhea quickly leapt forward and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me close.

"Don't go," she breathed. "Not yet. Stay with me for a little bit longer." I stared down at her lips- which were only inches away from mine. Her breath was warm and inviting.

"I can't…" I trailed off. Rhea ignored my decline and bought her lips down on mine, kissing me passionately. My hands reached up into her hair, winding their way through. Even after sex there was still an aggressive animal passion burning within us- one that neither of us could control. Her fingers dug into my back and the kissing increased. I pushed her down on the bed and hovered over her, all the while we were still kissing. Her hands slid down my spine till they reached my pants line, she then started unzipping my jeans zipper. I reluctantly pulled away and sat up, my breathing heavy.

"I have to go…" I panted.

"Do you really have to? They won't mind if you're a couple minutes late will they?" She said with pleading eyes. I chuckled.

"I'm already going to be late." She sighed, looking up at me under her blanket of hair that covered her face.

"I take it from your behaviour this morning you enjoyed last night?" I said, raising an eyebrow. She smiled cheekily.

"Very much. We should do it again sometime," she said, leaning forward to peck me on the lips.

"Yes. I'll make sure of it." I said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "But now, I have to go- I'll be back shortly." A trickle of pride seeped through me at doing something responsible for once. I'd taken control of the urge to stay here and make love to Rhea and forget about the meeting all together. _There's always time to do that later_, I thought.

"I'm surprised you're taking re-building your line so seriously- it's good. I'm proud of you." I smiled happily.

"It surprises me too actually, but I have to do what's required of me- otherwise the Dragomir's will be no more." She smiled back at me and reached up to kiss me one last time.

"Okay, you better get going before you're really late." She pulled back and gently pushed me away.

"Yeah, I'll see you later then." I looked at her hopefully.

"Don't worry- you'll be seeing me around."

The meeting took place swiftly after that. I ended up getting there fifteen minutes late and the Queen watched me with disapproving eyes as I made my way to my line's sectioned place on the pew. Tatiana seemed impatient during the meeting since she ran through the chosen topics rather quickly. She only mentioned the age decree once and informed everyone I was the problem to the split council on the decision to make it law. The Ozera line respectfully spoke up for me about any political objections I had with what Tatiana was discussing throughout the meeting. I trusted and respected the Ozera's for their help and support- they were kind people. I had to become familiar with them anyway since Rhea's mother had been related to their line in some way. Her father was rumoured to be human.

The discussion soon became boring and I felt myself drifting off to unrelated topics- such as Rhea. I thought about last night, remembering how Rhea's body felt against mine and how passionate our kisses were. I also remembered how as soon as our bodies weren't in contact it felt shockingly wrong and the need to be touching again made us gasp. We kissed aggressively and hungrily, each of us not seeming to get enough of one another. I wanted, no- needed- to feel her touch ag- "Daydreaming again Lord Dragomir?" Danielle Ivashkov asked, interrupting my fantasies. Nathan Ivashkov- another good friend of mine- was married to her. We'd known each other for quite some time now. They'd recently had a child- Adrian Ivashkov- not long after getting hitched. I didn't know whether or not it had been an accident since it was rumoured that they were quite addicted to sex.

I smiled at her, "Daniella, I haven't seen you here since my return to court. Is Nathan trying to quarantine you now?"

"Funny, Eric. I remember you doing that to all your girlfriends after you became physically involved with them." I was about to give her a dirty comeback when Nathan walked up and slid his hand around her waist. I nodded in greeting then turned my attention back to Daniella.

"You have a point there. How's Adrian?"

"He's with our maid now. The separation is putting me on edge, so I'll be returning soon." She replied. I nodded, not really understanding why she wanted to get back to Adrian so fast when she only left him thirty minutes ago. It must be a mother and child bond, I guessed.

"I didn't see much of you last night, Eric," Nathan piped up. "Did the Queen upset you that much?"

"No, she got me thinking. I'm truly considering re-building my line now." Nathan laughed outright at this.

"Is this the same Eric Dragomir, the rebel? You never back down."

"I didn't back down- I just came to a compromise, that's all." I shrugged.

"I think Eric has made a wise decision, a very smart one at the very least." Victor said, patting my shoulder. I hadn't noticed his approach, then again- no one ever does. "You could learn a lot from our dear friend, Eric."

"I don't need to learn anything, Victor. I've already had my next generation- Eric hasn't." Danielle decided it was her time to leave so she kissed Nathan goodbye and gave me and Victor a small wave.

"Rhea sure has changed you," Victor noted.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Eric Dragomir has finally been tamed." Nathan teased.

"Funny, Nathan. Real _mature_."

"Enough, Nathan," Victor chastised. "At least it looks like he'll keep this one."

"I just might." I confirmed.

"There's another party tonight- you in?" Victor asked.

"What do you mean _another_ party? There was one last night?" I said, confused.

"We figured you'd be 'busy' with Rhea, so we didn't bother asking if you wanted to come." Victor shrugged whilst Nathan snickered.

"Oh. I see." I said uncomfortably. "Why are people even having parties? We just got back from a weekend of partying."

"It's practically a celebration for the safe return home. People want to blow off steam before things get serious."

"Mmm. Well, I'll check with Rhea and we might come down for a bit." I informed them.

"Damn, now he has to check in with his girl before he goes and does things. She's got you on a tight leash bro." Nathan teased. I rolled my eyes at him.

"You are way too immature, Nathan. You have a son and wife to attend to, so why are you going?"

"Danielle won't mind if I go- she likes to spend time with Adrian alone, she'd send me away if I intruded on their mother and son time."

"I wouldn't like your presence either," Victor joked. Nathan laughed at Victor's insult and I joined in. I went back to my room after that to see how Rhea was doing. I wasn't surprised she wasn't there- she was probably still on her tour around court. I was kind of hoping she'd be here since the day was half over and I wanted to spend quality time with her. I desired her company. Hours passed and Rhea still didn't show, so I decided to go to the party with Victor and Nathan and prayed Rhea would be there when I got back.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

She wasn't. Several weeks passed and there was still no sign of Rhea anywhere. Her special tour around court had taken nearly a month. People had seen her wondering around court by herself so I knew she was safe but whenever I tried to find her she wouldn't be anywhere I looked. As my thoughts further settled on re-building my line, I started attending royal meetings with the disadvantage of not being able to vote or have my say. I was only allowed to sit and listen in on them. I guess it was okay- I mean I was privileged to even be allowed to sit in on them.

I got time to hang out with Victor and we spent quite a lot of time reminiscing about the good old days. I found the old me again, who went out to parties and had a few drinks but when it came to women I stayed faithful to Rhea and never once made any physical contact with other girls. It actually made me proud that I was becoming more responsible and faithful. My birthday arrived three weeks later and I started to grow concerned about Rhea's whereabouts. Apparently she'd gotten her own room without me knowing. I thought about waking up next to her and seeing her hair as bright as sunshine, it made me feel sad that we'd spent so much time apart.

Her ex fiancé Stephen had once said she liked to be alone sometimes and she'd eventually show up. I surely hoped me rejecting her to have sex that morning when I'd been running late for the meeting hadn't upset her too much. Usually after sex with me, girls tended to feel considerably happier- until I broke up with them soon after, of course. I'd tied to find Rhea many times and no one knew what room she was staying in. All I could do was wait for her to return to me and hope everything was okay between us. I felt helpless since I couldn't be sure she was safe, there were a lot of crazy people around court and all I wanted to do was wrap my hands around her waist and protect her from danger.

Not only Moroi were crazy but feeders were to- what if a feeder like Dennis took her away? Or what if Queen Tatiana got to her; she always liked to get into people's heads and scare them off. Rhea could be in danger right now, crying for help, waiting for me to save her. I shuddered; thinking what would happen if it was already too late. I jumped up, grabbed my dorm keys and headed for the door. I swung the door open and was shocked to see Rhea standing in front of me with a small uncertain smile on her face.

"Rhea," I sighed in relief. Stepping forward- I hugged her tightly, greatfull she was alright. "Where have you been? It's been weeks!" I asked, letting her go.

"I've been spending time exploring court mostly. It's really big, you know."

"A tour around court doesn't take nearly a month and a half, Rhea. You've been avoiding me for quite some time now." I leaned forward so I was looking into her eyes with complete and utter seriousness. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been about you? No one knew where you were or what room you were in." I felt my hands shaking with fury.

"I know. I've just been trying to give you some space. You have a lot of stuff going on, concerning your royal duties. I didn't want to get in your way." She said serenely. I could tell she was hiding something from me.

"You know I only go to the meetings- I don't have any royal duties yet."

"Yes but you needed time to sort things out- if I was with you, you'd be distracted all the time." She explained.

"Rhea," I grabbed a hold of her shoulders and shook her slightly. "What's been going on? You're hiding something from me- I can tell." She sighed, defeated.

"I know, Eric. I've just been thinking over these past few weeks…" I froze. Uh oh- the typical break up line. We hadn't been together long but I still wanted to spend the rest of my life with her and she was saying she wanted to leave me, why? I shut down.

"You've been _thinking_, huh?" I dropped my hands from her shoulders and clenched my fists.

"Yes. I have. We did it too soon- I don't know what I was thinking, I'm sorry this happened…"

"So you're going to break up with me?"

"What? No! That's not what I meant." She shouted. I looked at her utterly confused.

"Then what is it Rhea? Because it sure sounds like you were implying it." Her eyes narrowed.

"No, you've got it all wrong! I wouldn't break up with you over something like this."

"Then explain why you've been so distant these past six weeks."

"I had to think… to tell you what's going on…"

"Rhea what are you talking about? What exactly has been 'going on'?" Rhea crossed the room and sat down on the bed- I followed suit. Her breathing became heavy and the next words she said were barely audible.

"Eric, we should never have done it that night we came back from the cruise."

"What? You mean sex? Why not? I enjoyed it- didn't you?"

"Of course I did, it's just that… the cost of not using protection is going to ruin everything between us." I stopped breathing. _No._ Surely this can't be happening.

"Rhea…" I gulped. "Are you…"

"…pregnant?" she finished. "Yeah," her voice cracked and she turned bright red. The silence grew heavy as I tried to digest the news. Rhea, _pregnant_. I'm a father! I have a _child_ now. Suddenly Rhea's face crumpled and she broke down crying. I had my arms around her in an instant. I held her against me tightly and she buried her head in my chest.

"Eric, I'm so-so sorry. I knew how you wanted to wait until you started to rebuild your line and-"

"Rhea," I cut her off. Words couldn't express how I felt right now. Was I happy? Excited? Nervous? I thought about Fredrick and Alma- my parents- who had chastised me nonstop about how I would be the last Dragomir if I didn't settle down with Emma. Now that she and I were no longer together it was strange how I settled down with Rhea who was now pregnant with my child. My parents had gotten their wish after all. I didn't purposefully get Rhea pregnant; I just didn't think to use condoms with her. "It's… okay." I reassured her. She pulled back and looked up at me with tear filled eyes.

"I thought you wanted to wait a couple years before you started having kids? When I found out… I was devastated- I thought you'd say you never wanted to see me ever again." I put my finger under her chin and tilted her head up so she was looking directly into my eyes.

"Rhea- I'm okay with it, I promise. I'm shocked… but okay with it. All I'm concerned about is your safety and how you feel about this. Look at the bright side, the Queen will be off our backs now that you're already pregnant. We've done what they wanted." She laughed and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I'm sorry for crying. I was just so worried…"

"Hey," I put my finger to her lips to stop her from saying another word. "You have nothing to be sorry for. We would've been in this situation later on anyway, it had to happen sometime. I'm just glad you told me. I could've gone through life not knowing I was a father. I already have a bad reputation with women… as a father. Who knows what everyone will say."

"I didn't want you to leave me…" she sniffed.

"I won't, I'm right here." I reassured her. "I'll never abandon you. _Ever_."

"What about Tatiana and the others?" I sighed.

"They'll probably be pleased about it actually."

"So when do we tell them?"

"I think we should let them find out about it for themselves."

"It's only been six weeks though."

"You'll show soon," I shrugged and her eyes widened.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"What? Gaining weight or having the baby?" she chuckled.

"Both."

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**Once again I'd like to say a huge thank you to Chantie15- who is the editor of all my chapters. Please check out her stories- they're awsome!**


	5. Sunshine Ch 11

**Hey everyone,**

**This is chapter Eleven in "Sunshine" and it's in Rhea's point of view. Hope you like it and don't forget to REVIEW it :)**

Disclaimer: I do not own "Sunshine" nor do i own any of these characters.

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Chapter Eleven

RPOV

Emma Drozdov didn't like me very much- she was the one who gave Dennis the idea of kidnapping me, which was proof enough; I was her sworn enemy. From what I'd heard she didn't take it too well when Eric broke up with her. She wouldn't have had any trouble convincing Dennis to run off with me, since he was already obsessed with me- it was obvious. I hadn't thought about any sort of revenge, since I thought it would be best to be mature about it. Eric had broken her heart when he'd kissed me and I often worried what would happen if I saw him kissing another girl. I'd want revenge.

What happened with Dennis was one of the reasons Eric insisted on coming with me to every feeding. I'd decided to switch to female feeders- ones I didn't know. I was slightly surprised the humans tasted better here- only the best for the royals, I thought snidely. Today we were assigned to a woman named Natasha- a pretty young girl who barely looked eighteen. Her young age surprised me. She'd probably experienced a moroi bite at a very young age and never looked back since. Feeders were all the same. Poor girl, I saw the thrill seize her as I approached. I sat down beside her and she immediately flipped her hair over her shoulders and leaned towards me eagerly. She braced herself for the bite- her neck and shoulders tensing. I looked over at Eric who was leaning against the wall- arms folded.

"You don't have to keep this up, you know." I said, pulling down on Natasha's collar to get a better spot on her neck. She let out an eager moan, which was typical with all feeders.

"Save it. You won't be getting rid of me anytime soon." He replied, stubbornly. Seeing Eric- who looked as impatient as my feeder- I let my fangs become visible and felt Natasha give a pleasurable shudder. I bit in hard as my hunger took over. I felt the first few drops of the sweet red rubies slide down the back of my throat and it tasted better than ever. Natasha pressed up against me and I clutched her shirt tightly. The endorphins from my saliva consumed her and she began rocking against me as I sucked harder, taking in large gulps of her blood. I couldn't stop, her blood tasted to good, I had to-no needed- to have all of it. Before I knew it a firm set of hands ripped me away from her and I spun around, baring my fangs and snarling at the person who'd interrupted my feeding. Eric stood in front of me with his hands raised in surrender.

"That's enough, Rhea. You've had enough blood for today. We'll come back in the morning, okay?"

"No." I hissed, eyes blazing. Turning back around, I lashed out at Natasha, who was slumped in her chair- eyes closed. I was prepared to fight for her blood. Before I reached her, Eric had me in a tight lock and started leading me out into the hall. I struggled helplessly in his arms, but it was no use- he was stronger.

"Rhea, snap out of it- you almost killed her!" Eric shouted. His words were like a slap in the face and I immediately stopped struggling. I turned to face him, my lips quivering.

"I- I didn't notice." I stuttered.

"It's probably because you have a little blood sucker inside of you."

"Don't call him that," I snapped, cradling the little lump that appeared on my stomach. Lately my need for blood had increased, since I had another mouth to feed. Moroi pregnancies were considerably different since I was feeding two people, so even if I drained the feeder of blood I wouldn't turn into a strigoi. My stomach grew rapidly as the weeks passed, but like humans- I had a nine month waiting period until the baby was actually born. No one knew I was pregnant because I didn't venture out of Eric's room much. I didn't like attention or to be in the spotlight, so I was putting off going outside until the baby was nearly due. It took all of my strength just to sit up in bed, let alone waltz around court.

Eric had feeders delivered to our room twice a day- each visit was from a different feeder. Today's feeder looked similar to Natasha. It made me feel uncomfortable when I drank from humans my age, it felt wrong to me. All that didn't matter when I sunk my teeth into them. Nothing did, only the sweet warm liquid running down the back of my throat mattered. I sometimes fantasied about killing the feeders but luckily Eric was always there to stop me when I drank too much or lost control. I didn't bother listening to others opinions on Eric and my relationship. I shrugged it off. I worried more about Eric then myself through this pregnancy since he spent all of his time looking after me.

The Queen continued to bug Eric about re-building his line and he assured her that he would start soon, little did she know her wants had already been accomplished. When I woke up the next morning I turned to face Eric who looked worse than the night before. His platinum blonde hair was white and dull, whilst his beautiful jade eyes lost their shine and looked tired and worn. Poor thing, he didn't seem to be sleeping well either and I usually found him sitting near the window with the sunshine on his face. He was paler than ever and struggled to get up most mornings. He looked very weak and in dire of blood. I wanted to touch him but was too afraid that maybe even one touch and he'd lose it and lash out at me. He was highly sensitive to the smallest things and that scared me.

"Eric, please," I said, my voice filled with agony. "I need you to feed. It's been days…" he shook his head from side to side.

"You're to defenceless, I can't risk leaving you- I won't."

"It's not about me right now. You're starving yourself, Eric! You'll die if you keep this up. Get Victor or Nathan to watch me, you need to take care of yourself!"

"Forget it- I'm not leaving you."

"I'll have Victor drag you out before you kill yourself."

"How will I know you're safe?"

"When you come back and see me happy to see you all healthy again." I smiled softly.

"I'll leave you with Daniella- Nathan's wife; she has a two year old son…"

"Yeah, I know- Adrian, right?"

"Yeah, that's it." He said solemnly. I pressed a light kiss to his forehead and ran my hands through his hair.

"Thank you," I whispered. He smiled.

"You're welcome." After finally facing my fear about talking to Eric about his lack of blood, he did leave and left me with Daniella. At least he trusted her enough to leave her alone with me. She would best suit; her line was the highest in status since Nathan's Aunt Tatiana was the Queen. Nathan hardly spent time with his wife since he was always attending his royal duties. I often wondered how Daniella took it so well. She bought Adrian with her which was great. I wanted to see her mothering techniques on keeping him calm and entertained. I noticed the Ivashkov's and Dragomir's shared the same eye colour, it was a rare one indeed. Adrian was lucky enough to inherit it. It was emerald green compared to Eric's pale Jade colour. He had dark hair, like his mothers and his manly face had started to take shape even at the age of two. I sat with Daniella on the couch and had the T.V playing softly in the background on a channel I hoped Adrian would enjoy. Right now there was a crayon commercial playing.

"Is it easy?" I asked Daniella.

"It never is in all this craziness, but it's different for some. Most families move out of court to avoid all the stress."

"So they just… move? What about their royal duties?"

"Not all the royals are needed to make up court. Only the essential heirs are what make up court laws and decisions."

"Have you thought about getting Adrian away from it?"

"Not really. When I found out I was pregnant with him I knew it wouldn't be easy and that I'd see Nathan less than I already do."

"Does he even acknowledge his son?"

"Of course, he adores Adrian as much as I do- believe me. He hates spending so much time away from him- he has important business to attend to though." She bit her lip. "I hope his duties as a royal don't screw with his duties as a father."

"So most moroi fathers aren't there?"

"No, no, please don't think that. I wouldn't want to ruin it for you and your first child. Don't let my words scare you."

"I'm just trying to take in what to avoid."

"There are lots but one I wish I could avoid of all."

"What's that?"

She let out a frustrated exhale. "Tatiana."

"I forgot. Tatiana is Nathan's aunt."

"And Adrian's great aunt and she cannot keep herself away from him. She's always at our house looking for him and they play nonstop until Tatiana has to get back to one of her meetings. She favours him more than Nathan. I think Nathan gets a little jealous." Adrian turned to us at the mention of his great aunt's name and I saw a hint of a smile curl on his lips. "Of course he can point out her name out of many names. They have grown quite fond of each other."

"That should be something to be quite happy about."

"Not really. Tatiana only likes me now that I have Adrian. She never approved of our relationship."

"Why's that?"

"Tatiana never approves of anyone dating her family she's closest to. I just hope she doesn't drive whoever Adrian starts to date, crazy. I'm lucky Nathan and I are even together, we ignored her that long."

"So she hates you for stealing her nephew away?"

"I wouldn't say hate but that's pretty much it."

"I wonder how it'll be when Andre is born. Will anyone consider him when his mother is a half-royal?"

"I'm sure Andre would love you either way."

"I fear Eric won't be around with his royal duties."

Daniella reached out to touch my hand. "Like I said, don't let my words scare you. That's what only a few royals choose to do and that's because they can't handle the stress. Besides, Eric is a rebel, whatever he doesn't like- he won't do. So I have a feeling you'll be seeing a lot of him." I chuckled.

"Maybe it will work."

"It _will,_ Rhea." She said. We both looked over at Adrian at the same time when we saw him point and giggle at the cartoons on screen. Daniella and I laughed in unison. I didn't realize that the time was going by so fast. Victor and Eric left for the feeder's hours ago and now it was close to becoming dark and moroi were on their way to bed. Just like that, Adrian yawned after his hysterical laughing. And Daniella was there to catch him before he fell asleep. She embraced her son tightly, almost protectively- like a murderer would come in to kill them and she wanted to take the first hit, not even I would have the right words to make her loosen her grip. So maybe that was what it was like to be a mother, always protective of your child and their surroundings and ready to take a bullet at any moment. I rubbed my stomach thoughtfully, picturing Andre falling asleep in my arms. Daniella's hand appeared next to mine on my stomach.

"You're having that anxious feeling you'd normally get when you're ready for your child to come now." She said, guessing my thoughts. It surprised me how much a mother knew what the child was doing. Even that "eyes behind the head" tick was real to me; I couldn't get away with anything when I grew up.

"I don't think there's any room for him in there at all. My stomach was flat before I got pregnant. I think he'll just push his way out when he has no more room in there. I'm counting on that." Daniella laughed to my humour.

"You're a small girl so it's normal for your belly to feel so tight like that."

"He kicks like I don't know what and I think he stretches in the middle of the nights. I get no sleep because of it."

"Only normal I'm afraid. What isn't normal is that you already look eight months when it's only been six months."

"I know but the doctor says it's because I'm a half royal. My human and royal bloods are just mixing when making a child."

"I find that luck to about to have a rare child that could write history in the moroi world."

"Yeah, I do find that special."

"Eric and Nathan should be back by now."

"Eric hasn't fed in over months since I got pregnant. He rarely leaves my side because he wants to be there for when I go into labour and all that."

"Wow he needs to get out. Victor and Nathan need to be around more then." I rolled my eyes.

"He does but Eric turns him down a lot."

"I have a feeling Nathan would want another guys night out before he'll be put down on dad duty and royal meetings."

"I hope he goes too. I don't want to pin him down while he still has free time." A knock at the door snapped us out of our gaze on my stomach and raced to the door. Nathan showed up along with Victor and Eric. Colour finally shown in his face and that breathtaking smile returned.

"Rhea…" He said. My smile only grew wider to his honey like voice.

"You all were gone for a long time."

"Lucky us, we bumped into Nathan who was also on his way to the feeders."

"Once we were done, we headed to the bar." Victor said.

"We're lucky we even got there with Eric's undying thirst." Nathan said and then he noticed Daniella holding a sleeping Adrian in her arms. "Ah, I've been wondering where you two have been when I didn't see you at the house." He came in to pick up Adrian from Daniella's arms.

"We'd better go and put him to bed." Daniella said, I thanked her and they left. I looked over at Eric and Victor who seemed to have exchanged glances before looking at me.

"Okay, seeing as my job is done, he's a happily healthy man Rhea. I'll see you." He jogged off. Eric looked at me this time with that unforgettably killer smile of his. I found it sneaky, meaning he must have done something wrong and covered it with a smile or he's just trying to hide something from me.

"It's still early. You can still go and hangout with Victor till night."

"I don't want to hangout with Victor." He said.

"You don't? Then what do you want to do?" He stepped into our room. I followed him to the direction he walked to, with him sitting me on the bed first and he stood in front of me. "Rhea I didn't just take my time to return to you and we didn't just go to the bar after our feeding."

"I knew you'd take your free time to do whatever. I don't blame you for it and Daniella and I hit it off really well."

"I am happy for that but there's something we have to do before you have Andre."

"What's that?" I suddenly became tense to his long pause. He kneeled in front of me to look me levelly in the eye.

"Marry me Rhea." He said, eyes glowing with adoration for me. He seemed settled on this decision but me; I felt the past come back when I was engaged to Stephen and or unfortunate call of to the wedding. I felt trapped with Stephen even though we were really good friends but I spent more time listening to him in our relationship, whatever it was than have one. I still didn't give him an answer and he raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to say something?"

"There's a ring I suppose." I guessed but he was already pulling it out.

"Yes and this time you won't have to take it off." He pulled out a small black box and when he opened it a diamond that looked not too big and not too small glow in the box. I sure did hope he didn't spend too much money on it. I had to admit it looked like more thought was put into it than Stephen did.

"It's beautiful," I told him, "really something to look at."

"Just marry me Rhea and I promise I'll be loyal to you for as long as I breathe." I didn't answer in his next proposal either. I started to avoid it.

"Rhea …" He exhaled uneasy almost like he was nervous. "Please."  
I nodded finally giving in to his nervous breakdown. "Yes." I whispered. In a flash he had me in his arms and spinning in the air with him. We shared kisses to his fast pace and to my weight he lifted me like a feather and had me down in no time he wasn't heavily breathing. He slipped the ring on my finger and it fit perfectly on my swollen fingers.

"So that's why it took you extra hours to get home. You were picking out a ring for me." I said.

"Yes and I had to spend extra hours making sure it was the right one. I'm relieved it fits, saves me the trouble of going back and getting it sized."

"I hope you didn't spend too much."

"Not really. I made sure I stayed away from the thousands prices."

"How will we get married when I'm pregnant?"

"We can wait until he's born. Only better, he can actually be there to witness it."

"He won't remember when he grows up."

He shrugged. "We'll take pictures."

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**Thanks again to Chantie15 who edited this chapter for me. Please check out her stories they're amazing :D**


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